The Choice
by Madame of all Manga
Summary: Instead of trying on a lost cause, Kaito went to find Ai. He had to tell her what his decision was in case Shinichi didn't wake up in time. If he waited to give his answer, he doubted he would have the same choice. "You have decided? What is your choice then? I need to put it on record," Ai said when she answered the office door after Kaito had knocked. "My choice is…"


Ran glanced at the clock. She really should be going home now. It was almost midnight. She just couldn't think of any reason to go home. Every time that she went home she was just reminded of how wrong everything had gone. Sure Shinichi was back, but he wasn't the same.

Eventually, Ran decided to try to call Shinichi. She had to tell him that she would be late getting back. Her phone seemed to be lost though. Instead of making a big deal about it and searching through everything at that time, she decided to just let it be. If it was needed, she could just tell Shinichi the truth. Her phone really was lost. It probably was left at home.

Closer to 3am Ran finally decided to leave. She packed up her stuff and headed out to walk back to her house. The house she had been sharing with Shinichi since he had come back.

Ran really should have thought about it more before deciding to move in with him when he came back. It had been constant fights and disappointments ever since he had gotten back. She hadn't realized that he would have changed so much during the time that he was gone. It seemed like he didn't love her as much as he always said that he did.

She knew that he truly did love her. It just seemed like it wasn't the type of love that she wished that it was sometimes. There were so many things different between what he was like before he had left on that big case. Sometimes, he still disappeared for weeks on end and when he came back there was a huge article in the paper about how he had taken down another huge organization in another country.

They continually got into fights about this. All she wanted was some notice when Shinichi left, but she was always the one left out of the loop. Kaito and Hakuba always knew what he was up to. They even left with him on some occasions! Why couldn't she just get some warning of when he went to another country at least?

He always said that it was for her safety. If he told her where he was going then he knew that she would be on the next flight to try and catch him. She could always tell whenever he was going to leave soon too. He seemed to get more distant the week before he left. How many criminal organizations could there be out there?

Sometimes, she really felt like ending it. A few times she was so close to ending it, but then Shinichi would do something impossibly sweet that would keep her sticking around.

Once she reached their house, she noticed that the lights in the library were still on. Usually Shinichi would be in his bedroom by now at least. Even if he usually didn't go to bed until a much later time. Why would he be up in the library at this time of the night?

Stepping into the house, she made her way slowly up to the library. She needed to make sure that he was alright before she went to bed. There was still a ton of work to do tomorrow, and she needed to get some rest so she would be awake for it. Ran was one of the most sought after lawyers, second only to her mom. She loved her job but there was a ton of work to do and with her high standards, very few people were available to be assistants.

Outside the library, she listened through the door trying to see if there was any sound of the shuffling of papers or anything else that might notify her that Shinichi was in there. Hearing nothing, she knocked and called, "Shinichi?"

There was still no answer so she opened the door. What she saw shocked her. There was Shinichi sprawled out on the floor. It seemed as if he had tried getting up and couldn't make it. How could she have been so blind and stupid as to not notice the pain that her boyfriend has been in?

"Shinichi! Shinichi please answer me! Are you alright? Shinichi!" Ran screamed at her boyfriend.

Receiving no answer, she left the room to grab the phone that was out in the hallway. She hurriedly made a call to get an ambulance set to their house.

Riding with Shinichi in the ambulance, she just kept hoping that he would get better while never letting go of his hand.

Ran was left in the waiting room while the doctors tried to figure out what was wrong with Shinichi. None of them could figure it out no matter what they did.

"Are you the one that came with the patient named Shinichi?" a doctor came up and asked of Ran.

"Yes is he alright? Will he get better?" Ran answered hoping for a positive response.

"Unfortunately, we do not know what is wrong with him at the moment. We have our best people working on his case, but so far they have come up with nothing. None of his symptoms fit any of the diseases we can think of. Have you noticed anything different in him that might help us?"

Ran cringed. "I'm sorry. I haven't. I have been working really late during the past few weeks. I only found him like that after having come back from work. There is so much to do so I stayed until 3. I wish I noticed something."

"Don't worry about it. I am sure we will figure this out. You should go home and rest. There isn't anything that you can do here right now," the doctor said trying to placate the obviously agitated girl. It was clear that this girl blamed herself for what had happened to this man.

"Alright. Call me if anything happens," Ran said before leaving.

In the morning Ran called her friends telling them of what had happened to Shinichi. All of them asked if she was alright and said that they would be coming over soon to be there for her. When she was on the phone with Kazuha, Hattori had even grabbed the phone and said that they were on their way there right away.

A few hours later, Hattori burst through the door of the Kudo mansion with Kazuha following behind slowly.

"Are you alright Ran?" Kazuha asked when she saw the girl sitting dejectedly at the table in the kitchen with a cup of coffee in her hands. Ran didn't drink much coffee but she needed the comfort of something that Shinichi always loved at the moment.

"Oh hi Kazuha," Ran said giving an obviously fake smile. "I'm fine don't worry about me. It's all that idiot detectives fault for not saying anything whenever he is injured or in pain."

The next day, they all went to the hospital. When they reached the room that Shinichi was held in, they all noticed how pale he was. He looked even worse than when he had come in. Where the doctors even trying to do anything? Ran knew they were, but it didn't look like it when faced with the physical signs of Shinichi deteriorating right in front of her.

Going to sit next to Shinichi, Ran noticed another person already in the room. Ran smiled when she saw this person. They could have been Shinichi's twin if it weren't for the messy hair that the other had. The eye color was also slightly different.

"Hey Kaito," Ran said while grabbing a seat next to him.

"Hi," Kaito replied. He wasn't even trying to smile as he stared straight at Shinichi.

"How long have you been here? Have the doctors given any new information on what is causing this?" Hattori asked.

"They still don't know what is wrong, but they do have a new specialist on board to help find a treatment for him," Kaito replied while never having his gaze move from Shinichi's face. "I don't know how long I have been here. Heard about it yesterday and came right away."

Ran paused at that. Kaito came yesterday? Has he really been here that whole time?

"Who is this new specialist? Anyone big?" Kazuha asked.

"They didn't mention their name just that they are one of the best specialists in mysterious cases like this," Kaito responded. He gave a pointed look at Hattori as soon as the other girls started on their own conversation.

Hattori understood what Kaito wanted and lead the way outside to the most private area they could find.

"Don't tell me she thinks that it is the poison he took so long ago! I thought that that was out of his system already! It's been ages since he came back. Wouldn't he have had problems already if they were to arise? It has been near to 8 years since he came back and 11 since he was first shrunk!" Hattori yelled as soon as they were clear of bystanders.

"Ai believes that it is the antidote. The only way to save him is to flush him of the antidote. He wouldn't be able to take another ever again. It would crush Ran if he had to leave again even if he would be back as Conan. The other problem with flushing him of the antidote is that he wouldn't revert 10 years this time. He would go back to being a 7 year old and his aging would be even slower than before. We already have seen how slow the aging goes with Ai.

She is supposed to look like a 19 year old and yet she looks closer to a 15 year old. It may not seem like a big difference, but Ai is saying that with Shinichi, he would look like a 12 year old when he should be 19. I don't know if either of them could handle it," Kaito whispered.

"Yeah, it already seems like they might be having problems before all of this happened. Has Shinichi woken at any point to be asked what his choice is?" Hattori asked.

"Yeah but we didn't actually get a response out of him. He heard us and was about to give an answer it seemed, but then he fell back unconscious."

"I just hope that he gets better for a little bit to have a response given on his own. I don't know what Ran would do if she had to make a choice like that."

"Actually, Ran wouldn't be the one to make such a choice. Shinichi has been making a will with me and a friend and he has me set as the one to make such a choice if it came down to it. I don't know what to do! I just hope that Shinichi wakes up and gives a response so I don't have to deal with this. I don't want my feelings to get in the way!"

"Don't worry Kaito, I am sure he will get better. He will wake up and give us an answer. You won't have to be subjected to this pressure and the pain that comes with making such a choice. Even if you are forced into making such a decision, I don't think Shinichi would blame you for putting your own feelings into what you decide on."

Kaito laughed blandly. "He's dying Hattori! How can you say that he will be well enough to give an answer?"

"Don't say that! Don't be such a defeatist! This isn't like you Kaito! You weren't even like this with what happened to Aoko!"

"Don't bring her up in this! She has nothing to do with Shinichi."

"Yet you don't deny that you are being a defeatist at the moment. I think that you need to get some rest. You should go home and sleep or at least ask Ai to have a cot brought in to a spare room close to Shinichi's so that if something happens you can be there right away."

"I can't sleep. Not until I know that Shinichi is ok. Nothing will get me to sleep until then. Let's just get back to the girls ok?"

"Fine but I will get you to sleep even if I have to knock you out to get you to sleep."

When they got back to Shinichi's room, they found Ai lurking outside the door. She didn't want to go in while the girls were in there. No one but those involved with the Organization knew that Shinichi had once been shrunk and forced to take the name Edogawa Conan. If she went in now, she would have to explain why she was in there doing any tests on Shinichi. Just because Shinichi wasn't here now didn't mean that she hadn't promised him that she would not tell anyone of his secret.

Hattori and Kaito nodded at her when they passed her. Ai then went into the spare room next to Shinichi's room while Hattori and Kaito went inside to get the girls out.

"Hey! Since Shinichi is just sleeping there not moving and stable in condition, why don't we go out and get some food? It is already lunch time and we have to stay healthy if we want to even try to find some way to help Shinichi. How bout it?" Hattori said while ushering the girls out of the room before even getting a response.

Lunch was a silent and somber affair. No one was up to much talking besides Hattori who tried to cheer everyone up. Nothing was working even when Hattori went and pulled a prank on the prankster himself. It just got Kaito very angry at Hattori and made Kaito leave the others.

"I am going back to Shinichi's room. You guys finish your food. I will see you back there." With that Kaito was gone.

When Kaito got back to the room, Ai was just finishing up her tests and was shaking her head.

"What is wrong? Is he getting worse?" Kaito quickly asked Ai.

Ai was shocked out of her thinking. "Oh, Kaito, it's you. I don't know what to do anymore. Shinichi hasn't woken up and he is running out of time before we need a response on if we just let him die or have him go back to being Conan. I tried to use drugs to wake him enough for an answer but they didn't work."

"Shinichi needs to wake up though! I can't deal with the responsibility of making such a decision! Either choice would hurt too many people!"

"Well you better decide soon. We have to have an answer by tomorrow or he will die either way," Ai said as she walked out of the room.

Kaito couldn't believe what he had been told. If he didn't have a decision by tomorrow then Shinichi would die either way? How could that be? Shinichi was always supposed to be the tough survivor. He never let anything stop him not even bullets. Any other person would have died before this. Maybe they wouldn't even have made it through being shrunk to a kid.

When the others came back they just left Kaito to his musings. They had seen him like this before to know that no matter what they did he would not be brought out of his thoughts.

At night, everyone left but Kaito. Kaito just sat there. He was trying to decide which would be better for Shinichi but his feelings kept going back to what he wanted. If it were his choice for what he wanted, he would have Shinichi get flushed of the antidote. This decision wasn't supposed to be what he wanted though. It was supposed to be what Kaito thought would be best for Shinichi.

Eventually, Kaito decided on what the best course of action would be. It was a hard choice, but he thought it was for the best. He tried calling Ran, but she wouldn't answer her phone or the phone in the Kudo household. Not even Hattori or Kazuha answered their phones. He would have thought that they would have made sure to have their phones close at hand to hear any updates about Shinichi's status.

Instead of trying on a lost cause, Kaito went to find Ai. He had to tell her what his decision was in case Shinichi didn't wake up in time. If he waited to give his answer, he doubted he would have the same choice.

"You have decided? What is your choice then? I need to put it on record," Ai said when she answered the office door after Kaito had knocked.

"My choice is…" Kaito told her what he had decided.

When Ran woke up the next day she told Hattori and Kazuha to go to see Shinichi. She had to go to work. There were only so many days of work she could miss before it would start to show. Leaving the house, they all headed their separate ways.

At work, Ran received another call but seeing that it was from Ai she decided to ignore it. She couldn't answer for Ai when she had to keep her phone near her to hear anything about Shinichi. Her phone had been charging yesterday so she hadn't noticed she got any calls until she woke up that morning. They were all from Kaito, but instead of calling him back she decided to let the man sleep.

When she got back from work, early this day, Hattori and Kazuha were already there.

"How is Shinichi? Is he doing any better?" Ran asked them.

"Yeah, he isn't as pale as he was yesterday. It seems like he might get better. You might not lose him Ran," Hattori said.

"Don't be so mean Hattori. Can't you see that she is in pain? Her boyfriend is in the hospital and she couldn't get off of work to be with him today," Kazuha reprimanded. "If he survives this, you should definitely marry him Ran. I don't understand why you haven't already. You have been together ever since he came back 8 years ago. What has been stopping you?"

"Don't worry Kazuha. He isn't being rude. I don't know what has been stopping us. He hasn't brought it up ever and neither have I. We have a nice relationship without the marriage so why should we get married besides to appease society? Anyways, Hattori are you sure he will be better? Something seems off with how you said that."

"He looks better than before. Didn't he Kazuha? He wasn't so pale today," Hattori said. He couldn't believe that he was lying to this sweet, caring girl. He couldn't say that there were two possible outcomes for Shinichi and neither of them were desirable. Kaito hadn't even told Hattori his decision so he didn't even know what would happen to Shinichi.

"Yeah, he was less pale today. He might pull through this."

"That is good. I just hope that he does pull through this. It is so hard to see him looking so sick and in pain."

"Don't worry. He is a strong man. I am sure he will pull through this. He must have a guardian angel out there somewhere," Hattori said. "We should all get to bed, so we can get to the hospital early in the morning."

"Sounds like a plan. See you all in the morning," Kazuha and Ran said in unison.

Another call came during the night, but this one was to Hattori's phone. Hattori tried to answer the phone, but the person hung up after the third ring. Figuring that it must not have been that important, Hattori went back to sleep.

The next morning when they went to see Shinichi, they were met by Kaito. He was waiting in the lobby.

"Hey Kaito. Why aren't you with Shinichi? Shouldn't you be in there with him?" Hattori asked.

Ran, noticing that Kaito looked to be in pain especially after Hattori spoke, asked, "Is something wrong? Did something happen to Shinichi?"

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry! I thought it was for the best! Shinichi isn't here anymore… He went into cardiac arrest during the night. There was nothing anyone could do. Well… Nothing any of the doctors could do," Kaito choked out.

"What do you mean you thought it was for the best? Did you do something to Shinichi?!" Ran yelled. She couldn't dare to believe that this man who looked so much like Shinichi could ever harm a soul especially one that was already in as much pain as Shinichi was.

"I had to make a decision. It was a really hard decision, but I was the only one that could legally make it. It was either have Shinichi live, but with a horrible life that he would hate to live and he would feel tortured throughout the rest of his life or have him ride this out and then he would die. I couldn't put Shinichi through the torture of the first choice. It would have been too painful for him. I'm sorry. I did what I thought was best for Shinichi! If I had been choosing for myself, I would have chosen the first one…"

Ran could see that this had indeed been a hard decision for the man before her. Kaito was falling apart before her. She had never seen this man cry so much. He always had a smile on his face no matter how much pain he was in. Besides, he wasn't to blame for any of this was he? She was the one that never noticed how much pain and suffering Shinichi had been in. Did she really have the right to call herself Shinichi's girlfriend? A girlfriend should have been able to see the signs and gotten him in for help sooner.

Ran just went up to Kaito and hugged him. She couldn't stay mad at him for making that decision. He had been strong and had thought of what Shinichi wanted instead of what he would have wanted from Shinichi.

All four of them just stood there hugging each other and crying. They all needed the strength from the other three. Slowly, they extracted themselves from the group and made their way to Shinichi's room to see him for the last time.

The funeral was big. Lots of people had come to respect Shinichi and he had many friends and colleagues. Even some of the people that he had helped during cases came to show their respect for the man. Ayumi, Mitsuhiko, and Genta were in a corner crying. They had come to know Shinichi after Conan had left and had grown to be good friends with him using his as a replacement Conan.

Yukiko and Yuusaku stood silently up near their son's casket. Neither of them believing that this was really happening. They both had thought that their son would never die. He always was a strong one.

Kaito couldn't bring himself to enter the building. He felt like it was his fault. He just wanted Shinichi back even if it were to be as Conan. Shinichi wouldn't have wanted that. He would want to live his life as Shinichi and die as Shinichi. Kaito couldn't put him through childhood for a third time. Before being noticed by anyone, Kaito left. He couldn't stay in this city. He would travel. Anything to get him away from this city that reminded him so much of Shinichi.


End file.
